Reuters/London
British pro-Europeans yesterday launched their campaign to keep their country inside the European Union, cautioning that turning away from the world’s biggest economic bloc would hurt jobs and torpedo London’s global financial clout.
“Leaving Europe is a leap in the dark and I don’t believe that is a risk that is worth us taking,” said Stuart Rose, a former boss of Marks & Spencer who chairs the new “Britain Stronger in Europe” campaign.
“Do we continue to lead the world by leading in Europe or risk diminishing our influence on the world stage by turning our backs on Europe?” he asked.
Prime Minister David Cameron is seeking to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the bloc it joined in 1973 as the ‘in’ and ‘out’ campaigns prepare for battle in a referendum on membership due before the end of 2017.
Opinion polls suggest voters are split, and that crises in the EU over Greek debt and a surge of migrants may be turning some Britons against staying in the 28-nation bloc.
Launching the pro-EU campaign in a fashionable former brewery in East London’s Brick Lane, Rose, who led Marks and Spencer from 2004 to 2010, said he wanted reform of Europe but did not want to risk leaving.
In a speech pitched towards stressing the economic and political pragmatism of staying inside the Union, Rose said the referendum would define Britain’s future prosperity.
“The choice facing us in this referendum is the biggest choice that we have had in perhaps a generation: Do we remain part of the largest free trade market on the planet or do we walk away, perhaps risking jobs, creating uncertainty in our economy?”
For at least a generation, Cameron’s Conservative party has been riven by a conflict over Europe that contributed to the downfall of both Margaret Thatcher and John Major, the last two Conservative prime ministers.
Under pressure from lawmakers who feared the electoral success of the anti-EU UK Independence Party (Ukip), Cameron in 2013 promised a referendum on membership by the end of 2017 though many analysts and campaigners expect it to be called next year.
Both ‘in’ and ‘out’ campaigns are well-financed, attracting multi-millionaire backers, and their opposing arguments are well-honed with many of their proponents having spent years airing them both inside and outside parliament.
A rival campaign, “Vote Leave”, was launched last week by a group of business leaders and lawmakers, while those wanting ‘Brexit’ can also find a voice with another group, the “Leave.EU” campaign, supported by the head of Ukip.
Both sides are keen to show they involve politicians from both main parties, but also to demonstrate a wider appeal by attracting businessmen and women.
The pro-European campaign includes Richard Reed, founder of Innocent Drinks, Karren Brady, vice chairman of West Ham football club and Carolyn McCall, CEO of EasyJet.
“We are stronger in Europe - economically the case is overwhelming,” Roland Rudd, treasurer of the campaign said. “People up and down the country are going to realise that despite all the imperfections we are still better off in.”
“The weak point is to be able to shatter this myth that we are somehow shackled to a regulatory burden that isn’t good for business. We have really got to deal with that issue other we will hemorrhage some of our support,” he said.
Opponents of the EU say Britain would be better off if it ditched membership. They cast the EU as a stagnating bloc that is holding Britain’s economy back while lurching from crisis to crisis.
Will Straw, one of the leaders of the campaign, said the group had studied last year’s 2014 Scottish referendum and would be arguing the positive benefits of membership as well as warning of the risks of leaving.
Rose said he supported Cameron’s efforts to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the European Union but the country could only do so from within the bloc.
Stuart Rose, leader of the new u201cBritain Stronger in Europeu201d campaign speaks at the campaign’s launch in London yesterday.
